Mosquito NF XII- thimble nose detail...

[Jim Kiker]

Hi all,

 

I am working on a Mosquito NF XII conversion from the Tamiya Mk VI kit in 1/48 scale.  This is one of the first batch of NF XII's delivered.  The thimble nose has a small round artifact in the middle of the nose, but what is it?  A painted disk, a metal plate, a clear Perspex port?  See the image below.

 

 

Thanks, Jim

[gingerbob]

That's the Turbinlite II, after they switched to LEDs! 

[alt-92]

You can exclude a metal plate this close to the dish of the AI Mk. VIII.

 

(wikimedia image of a AI MK.VIII unit in a Beaufighter)

[fishplanebeer]

A camera gun perhaps as that's where it was on the FB.VI, although it would be a tight squeeze to allow the dish to move freely?

 

Regards

Colin.

[fishplanebeer]

Just to add that I have pics of an NF.XIII (almost identical to the XII) with the thimble nose and A1. Mk VIII radar and they do not show any form of aperture or disc so it may be best to leave it off.

 

 

 

Also the Tamiya kit of the NF.XIII doesn't have any disc or aperture either, although that's not to say that Tamiya got it right of course.

 

 

 

Regards

Colin.

[Dave Swindell]

14 hours ago, fishplanebeer said:

A camera gun perhaps as that's where it was on the FB.VI, although it would be a tight squeeze to allow the dish to move freely?

 

There wouldn't be any equipment forward of the radar as this would severely impact on it's performance. 

Best I can think of is it's a circle of unpainted perspex or fibreglass, depending on what was used to construct the radome.

[FinnAndersen]

52 minutes ago, Dave Swindell said:

There wouldn't be any equipment forward of the radar as this would severely impact on it's performance. 

Best I can think of is it's a circle of unpainted perspex or fibreglass, depending on what was used to construct the radome.

Some of the late Mosquito XXX used a clear Perspex(?) cover, when it was realised that painting the dome affected radar performance. Still later di-electric paints invented to allow the covers to be camouflaged.

 

So this might have been an attempt on maximising the radar performance dead ahead or it's just a reinforcement of the dome.

 

/Finn

 

[Jim Kiker]

Thank you all for the input, it is much appreciated.  I do think the truth is out there somewhere.  The game is still afoot!

 

Regards, Jim

[Phoenix44]

Not sure this helps as it doesn't really clear up what it was! Looks like it was it slightly recessed disc of some kind, maybe clear.

 

Edit: interesting that the two props seem to lack yellow tips as well.

Edited December 3, 2021 by Phoenix44